Ohio State had 11 players taken in the 2026 NFL draft, four of which were in the top-11 picks of the event.
Two of the players who went that early were linebackers Arvell Reese, who went with the fifth pick to the New York Giants, and Sonny Styles, who went with the seventh pick to the Washington Commanders.
That made the Buckeyes the first program to have two linebackers drafted in the top 10 of the same draft.
Ohio State head coach Ryan Day and linebackers coach James Laurinaitis both attended the draft in Pittsburgh with their former players. The day after the first round concluded, Day shared a moment he had with the former Buckeye backer-turned-coach.
“While Arvell was getting drafted, then Sonny was going right after him, I put my arm around James, and I said, ‘Remember when you first got here, and I said your job is to make this ‘Linebacker U’ again?’ Look how quickly he did it.”
Day has said that he tells all of his position coaches that their aim should be to make Ohio State “their position U,” and in just two years of being a full-time assistant, Laurinaitis seems to have gotten the head coach on board with OSU being LBU.
Laurinaitis may not have recruited either of Reese or Styles, but he did push for Styles to move from safety to linebacker and pushed for Reese to stick at linebacker instead of move down the edge.
Not only were Reese and Styles taken in the top-10 picks, but the Buckeyes seem to have reloaded for the 2026 season.
While there may not be two to-10 picks in the room, it’s still very deep with junior Payton Pierce, senior Wisconsin transfer Christian Alliegro and former top-50 prospect Riley Pettijhon all gunning for a starting role. Former top-100 prospect TJ Alford, Iron Buckeye Garrett Stover and five-star freshman Cincere Johnson are also pushing to get on the field.
Day gave Laurinaitis credit for both his strength in recruiting and his ability to develop players at a high level.
“There’s so much that goes into development, and he’s done it in a short period of time,” Day said of Laurinaitis. “You look at where it’s going in recruiting and what he does in that room, he does an excellent job. … He deserves recognition for the development there.”
